


Planetary Hostage

by Genuka



Series: Planetary Hostage [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Planetary Hostage Series, Year That Never Was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-27
Updated: 2012-09-27
Packaged: 2017-11-21 12:29:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/597772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genuka/pseuds/Genuka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What might have happened if The Master wasn't as troubled by the drums or hit as hard by the regeneration sickness in the "Year That Never Was" resulting with a slightly less insane Master at the helm! Goes immediately AU. <br/>This story is finished and can act as a stand alone!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Planetary Hostage

**A/n:** Had the incredible urge to write some Doctor Who. This involves the Master(Simm), the Doctor(10[pin stripe suit/David Tennant]), as well as some random spoilers for the Last of the Time Lords ep, it goes almost immediately AU. Cheers!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who/Torchwood. I rather wish that I did.... but no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.

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_Planetary Hostage_

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Harold Saxon was quite pleased with the set up he'd worked out, so pleased in fact that he was going to issue the challenge before triggering the paradox. The Doctor would never know what had hit him; And if he was smart about it, the Doctor would get his own unspoken wish and even manage to preserve some of those worthless apes he had such a liking for. Harold Saxon or rather the Master would get what he wanted too. The Doctor. The Doctor would finally be his without any way to escape or wriggle out of his clutches. The sheer thought of finally having the Doctor at his complete mercy was thrilling. He could even get rid of the wife if everything worked out but until he was certain that he either didn't need the backup plan or could choose another for the imprimatur trigger he'd have to keep her around and relatively intact. One of his employees, a young man of average height and build with dark hair in a suit, approached with something for him to sign, he glanced over it and signed after seeing that it was a requisition order for some of the more interesting and specialized restraints.

"Have that sent to the special larger room. We wouldn't want to be unprepared if he actually shows up, now would we?" Harold asked with a genial smile.

"No sir, we wouldn't." The employee agreed unfazed. "Sir? We've received confirmation from Torchwood that Mr. Harkness has returned to the area. It doesn't appear that they've noticed the physical similarity between you and the fugitive they seek, yet."

"Thank you. I'm just glad that we stumbled across that old photo of him and the evidence of plastic surgery. It wouldn't have done either side any good for their hand to be tipped too early now would it?" Saxon smirked, then ordered. "Issue the invitation to the Alien contact in the morning and make certain that they get the invitations that I wrote personally. I doubt very much that they wont overreact without the guidelines that I provided; And Henry? Make certain that they have appropriate transportation. We wouldn't want them to be late now would we?"

Henry nodded and went to send out the invitations to several known defenders of not only England but the planet as well. Sir Doctor of TARDIS, Captain Jack Harkness, Miss Martha Jones and family, and the Torchwood 3 team. Henry made certain that they had the best security and escort he could manage as well as the best transport to the first contact attempt. Of course only Sir Doctor, Captain Harkness, and Miss Jones had been cleared to actually be in the room when the attempt was made but his employer knew what he was doing. He was the British Prime Minister for a reason after all.

 

The next morning....

"We want our master!" declared the Toclofane.

"Oh, alright! I'm right here." Saxon stepped forward.

"But, but..." the American President spluttered.

"You bore me and quite frankly the way you've destroyed you're own people disgusts me you stupid apes!" With that Harold Saxon shot the American President.

"No!" The Doctor shouted lunging forward trying to stop what had already happened as both Jack and Martha held him back. Their _^personal security detail^_ , stopped them from moving forward any way, would have likely taken the Doctor to his knees if they had grabbed him instead of his companions. "You didn't need to do that." He told his old friend and oldest enemy sadly.

"Actually I did, but I also just wanted to. I've been to long playing the goody goody and waiting on you to get back from where I'd left you." Saxon smirked, as he came down the steps on the Valiant's bridge to stand in front of the Doctor and his companions. "Killing him proved to these worthless apes that I'm serious about what I'm going to do and it also reminded _^you^_ that I'm not some simple little tyrant or overlord to confuse or talk into submission." He stopped smiling then, and demanded. "Say my name; Say my name and the body count during my first proof of planetary ownership wont include children."

The Doctor looked pained and bowed his head but whispered. "Master."

"I can't hear you." The Master sing-songed. "Say it!"

The Doctor looked back up into the Master's eyes with fury blazing in his own as his friends still restrained him and said clearly enough that the camera's and sound equipment could all pick it up. "Master. There I've said it."

"Yes, yes you did." The Master agreed. "Doctor, this planet is now mine and there is nothing that you or any of your human pets can do about it. If you surrender to me and they behave I'll keep the death toll to a reasonable level. However if you or any of your pets work against me the entire planet will pay the price. For each act of defiance ten thousand will die. Have I made myself clear?"

The Doctor was pale by now but he nodded and his shoulders slumped as both Martha and Jack held him and were wearing expressions of pure horror.

"Well? What's your answer?" The Master asked, truly curious to see if the Doctor thought he could win in one move and would risk the slaughter of ten thousand humans on the off chance that he could not only stop the Master but also any contingency plans he had.

"My friends and their families go free." The Doctor insisted.

"Yes, they will all go free. The deaths would only happen if they worked against me. I'd rather have them working for me but," he shrugged. "Of course unless the apes are willing to be reasonable about it there will be deaths any way."

"I never was able to beat you for long, was I? I'm not even sure any more what turned our friendship in school into us constantly trying to kill each other." The Doctor sighed, then with a resigned nod. "Alright. I'd kneel as is traditional but I don't think that Martha or Jack would let go long enough to let me, if they could help it."

"Soon they won't have a choice." The Master said in satisfaction.

"Master! Master! Master! Can the others come through and play now?" begged the Toclofane. "Can we split the sky?"

With some amusement the Master turned back to them. "Of course we can." He told them indulgently and nodded at Henry who obediently went through the sequence he'd been taught and triggered the paradox, ripping open Earth's sky's, allowing the Toclofane to flow through the rift. 

"Remember all of the plans we talked about?" The Master asked the happily bobbing Toclofane.

"Yes, Master! Which game will we play?" The Toclofane asked eagerly.

"I think that we'll play one of the harder games. Go, isolate and collect all of the planet's leaders and their advisers with as little damage to the humans as possible. If someone shoots at you then you can kill them any way you want." The Master cheerfully informed them. "Have fun!" The Toclofane disappeared gleefully to their game.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that could have gone alot worse." He muttered drawing the Master's attention back to their group.

"If you're that keen on keeping at least one of your pets I suppose that you could keep the freak, but the others are just a bit on the fragile side and the pet I picked up would get jelous of them; too many females fighting for dominance." The Master told him with a shake of his head. "Now that I have one, I'm beginning to understand why you were always upset whenever I took them away from you, or tried to kill them or break them. They take far to much effort to care for and train. Its a wonder that you could manage with not only more than one but with them always asking questions and getting into inconvenient places."

The Doctor just shrugged and mumbled. "I'd rather you just let them all go, and can we turn off the camera's? I don't really see the point of showing them the rest of this mess."

The Master glanced at where the cameras and such were still transmitting a live feed. "I don't see any reason to. You've been defending this lot for centuries. I've even made a few half-hearted attempts against earth just to get your bloody attention. All you could ever talk about, even in school, was ^humans this^ and ^earth that^. How many regenerations have you wasted on these stupid apes?" He demanded angrily.

The Doctor muttered something inaudible, but at the Master's dark glare he cleared his throat and admitted almost sheepishly. "So far? All of them. There has been either a human or Earth its self involved or nearby for every single regeneration I've ever had. In case you hadn't guessed this is my 10th body. I'd rather not loose any more of them. We only get a total of 13 any way."

Hearing this the Master got very angry. "You know perfectly well that there are ways of adding regenerations. Just as there are ways of adding years to each regeneration." He practically snarled at the Doctor.

"None that I would care to use." The Doctor told him coldly standing straight, still held by his friends but more now for comfort than for restraint. "None that you can make me use either."

"Are you really willing to push me on this and find out?" The Master demanded.

The Doctor looked to the side and with a false cheerfulness told him. "Well since I still have a few bodies to go it isn't an issue, now is it?"

"Fine. We'll discuss it later." The Master said with a soft growl. "Is the freak staying or going?"

"Staying." Jack said firmly at the same time as the Doctor said "Going." The two looked at each-other with stubbornness etched into each line of their faces.

The Master smirked and had an idea. "Doctor?" He said almost softly. "Have you considered the fact that I need to be certain who each of your previous traveling companions were and where they are now so that I can assign them a security detail?"

The Doctor's head whipped around to stare at the Master in incredulity. "Why would they need a security detail unless you're planning on doing something evil, as usual." The Doctor accused.

"Oh Doctor, I'm always doing something evil. Right now I have you. You're pets aren't much of a threat but that isn't how some of the humans will see it though, is it?" The Master prodded almost gently.

The Master just loved how expressive this Doctor's face was. He could easily see the confusion as it eventually gave way to understanding and then concern. "Oh. Oh no. Nnnnnnnno. They can't be. They wouldn't hurt..." The Doctor stammered, refusing to believe the logic of the situation and his own conclusions.

"They can and they would. How many have you had to bury along your travels because of either a situation similar to this or because someone didn't understand?" The Master asked coldly. "I know perfectly well how you and your other pets will respond to this. I've used it often enough to trap you and nearly break you. The security details are more for my convenience than for their safety; Dealing with the fallout is something I'd be willing to slaughter an entire country over, perhaps even the planet. So I suggest that they not only come forward but that you tell me who and where they are. I'm not naive enough to think that you didn't collect and loose more since the last time we fought."

The Doctor looked at the camera's and the now pale camera operators and then back at the Master. "You wont hurt them?" He asked nervously.

The Master snorted. "They hold little appeal or interest for me, except for maybe the freak. I'll even let you visit them." He conceded.

"Why are the camera's really still on?" Martha asked suspiciously, finally speaking up, having pinpointed the thing that had been nagging at her mind, keeping her quiet.

"Well, well, well, there is a mind behind that pretty face." The Master said with some small surprise and decided to oblige her with an explanation. "Most of the times that we clashed while on earth our... disagreements were kept in the shadows by either the fact that we didn't bother to publize or by the local government. The fallout, on the other hand, tended to make the newsheets; Some company suddenly going bankrupt or a sudden collapse of one ancient site or another, people who had disappeared suddenly being returned or someone disappearing in a less than normal fashion, some of the effects where from what I did and some where from what the Doctor did. I never particularly cared one way or the other how many of your primitive race was killed or helped in whatever I was doing, but the Doctor is a bit more sentimental. I always found it strange for instance that so many other races found such a backwater planet so appealing for one reason or another and that so many fixed points seem to appear here. By the way that dent that you put into the 1960's is still causing trouble." He told the Doctor pointedly.

The Doctor winced and nodded his head sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know it's knocked me off course a couple of times. By the way how are you supporting the paradox? I know that I saw evidence possibly leading to the Toclofane when you were still Professor Yana."

"I used your battered old Type 40..." The Master started.

"WHAT?! How could you do that?! You know perfectly well how much that would hurt her! Where is she? We have to get that, that, _thing_ out of her!" The Doctor was practically hyperventilating in his panic and worry.

"If you would let me finish?" The Master told him pointedly forcing the Doctor to focus on him. "I'll explain." Seeing that the Doctor was calming down a bit and paying attention he continued. "As I was saying, I used your TARDIS to make the paradox machine since the materials and fuel supply wasn't otherwise available and you fused the transfer coordinate circuits as I was leaving so I could only go where you'd last been or come straight back to you. As I wasn't particularly keen on that and I knew you had the freak's vortex manipulator so I wasn't particularly worried you wouldn't be able to get out of there." He informed the Doctor with little concern

"If, on the other hand, you help me keep the paradox in progress and move it safely out of the TARDIS complete with something else to fuel it than the TARDIS' systems, then we'll disconnect her from it. Not before. And don't any of you go getting any ideas about breaking the paradox. It wont help you." The Master offered, knowing that the Doctor would feel conflicted over working with him, keeping the paradox intact or trying to destroy it, and rescuing his beloved ship.

The Master turned to face the camera's this time speaking to the whole planet not just the Doctor, Jack, and Martha. "If I get what I want, with little fuss I'm willing to consider leaving and breaking the paradox literally returning everything to how it was just before the sky opened and the Toclofane joined our little party. Or if you want this to become undo-able I will listen to a petition from your planet when the time comes. Either way, the Doctor is mine! So don't go expecting him to save you this time." He turned to the camera men and told them. "Make certain that last bit plays across this backwater for the next three days and turn those things off. The teleport room is a straight shot down the left hand corridor. Don't go snooping or you wont be leaving alive." They nodded and quickly took their equipment and filed out.

 

**A/n:** So good? Bad? Continue? Ignore musey?


	2. Boundaries and Bargains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI the ^untranslateable^ section was on purpose...

**A/n:** Musey and Murphy are being... interesting on this story. Not to mention its turning out to be a little difficult to merge the latest version of the Master's personality with some of the earlier more sane versions that showed up in the Classics, so chapters are likely to be slow on the update and I have no earthly clue as to pairings if any.

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_**Boundaries and Bargains**_

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The Master turned his attention back to the three contained would-be heroes and considered them. He knew that Martha was going back with her family if he had anything to say about it but he'd have to limit how often the Doctor could visit her and any of his other pets. She was clearly smitten, it wouldn't do for her to get her hopes up any more than she already did. Besides there were those pesky biological impulses that sometimes bound you to just the wrong person. The freak would take some investigation, a fixed point in time that can't die, well can't stay dead. Yes, definitely something to look into.

At least the Tardis had been a tad more cooperative when he'd threatened doing serious harm to the Doctor, harm that she wouldn't be able to fix but that he might be able to, maybe. Then there were some of the more interesting records that he'd come across in the ship's memory of the Doctor's recent travels. A human girl with the ability to hold the entire time vortex, even if it had been trying to burn her up after about twenty minutes. Had she just willed into existance the ability to continue holding all of that power as a part of her then the Bad Wolf that she had become would still be wandering the time ways at the Doctor's side. If the Doctor hadn't been such a fool and simply returned the energy to the vortex he could have done many things with such power; He could have willed himself to have unending regenerations, made it so that he never had to regenerate again, even simply just repaired the damage that the energy was doing to him as he returned it, or even made the changes to himself necessary to forever hold that power; But no, he'd returned it without doing anything, more concerned with his current human than with the consequences of his actions.

As the Master continued to muse over some of the information that he had retrieved from the Tardis' memory banks and watch the three time travelers the threesome became uncomfortably aware of his gaze. Finally he shook himself from his musing and waved the security detail back away from the group. He held out his hand, palm up, with a raised eyebrow and looked pointedly at the Doctor who in turn sighed and took out his sonic screwdriver and placed it in the Master's hand. The Master nodded and tucked it into his suit jacket pocked next to his own laser screwdriver.

"Anything else I need to confiscate? Be honest." The Master asked sternly.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and told him. "You know perfectly well how much I carry in my pockets, which currently includes Jack's vortex manipulator. As to Martha and Jack, well, Jack has his revolver and his sonic squareness gun in his pockets that I keep confiscating and he _somehow_ manages to keep retrieving." The Doctor sent a light glare at Jack who just looked back at him innocently, causing Martha to snort in amusement. "Marth doesn't really carry anything except for the cell phone I modified so that she could call her family from wherever and whenever we were. That actually came in handy a time or two. Wouldn't work against you, but it worked rather well to set up a feedback resonance through that psychic crystaline sound system that was causing us some trouble back on Tarnus III."

The Master persed his lips then sighed. "Freak, hand them over, I'll retrieve the rest from you later, Doctor. You can keep your phone Miss. Jones but I would like your number so that I or the Doctor can call you, especially if something comes up." To which Jack slowly handed over his weapons and Martha nodded. "Miss. Jones once you've provided us your number you'll be escorted back to your family. From now on you and your family will have bodyguards. I wasn't joking about how some of your fellow humans might react, so please don't try to ditch them. If you happened to loose them I might need to take... unpleasant action." 

The Doctor made a noise of protest and the Master raised his hand to forstall any tiraid. "If you want time without them looking over your shoulder I'm willing to provide it assuming you obey my rules. As a curtesy all bodyguards that I provide will be plainclothesmen unless its a public event or the number of attacks against you or your family, successful or not, rises to above four a week. You are free to contact the Doctor's previous companions and interact with them as they are with you. I do however need to know who they all are so that I can provide them with the same security as I will be providing to you and your family. You will all be given priority in investigating anything that looks odd or to out of the ordinary. If nothing else the Doctor was always good at finding something wrong and making a mess of it to the point where his opponent lost. I'm going to assume that he trained you all sufficently enough to investigate on your own should you choose to. I do, however, reserve the right to override your decisions and solve the situation my own way rather than the way that the Doctor would prefer it."

The Doctor scowled over this admission but it had an air of resignation. The Master looked over the trio thoughtfully once again. "This is your one chance to walk away, Freak. If I choose to accept your choice to stay here with the Doctor I will _not_ hold my curiosity in check." He informed them bluntly causing the Doctor to tense up again. "What that means to you is that I will be running experiments on you, often with painful and invasive proceedures. You will also likely be killed multiple times, even if your supposed resurrections don't actually happen on their own or at all for that matter."

"Thanks for the warning, but I'm still staying." Jack told the Master staring him straight in the eye, then his gaze shifted to the Doctor and he added softly. "He's worth it."

"That he is but he never seems to agree with the rest of us on that point." The Master agreed, drawing the startled glazes of his visitors. "Oh, and Doctor I need you to help me make a psychokinetic waveform detector. These drums have been driving me mad since I looked into the schisim when we were 8 and I want them gone!" He told them irritably.

"But they..." The Doctor hesitated.

"Why do you think I want to build the detector?" He asked, still irritable. "Its not just to find the source of the bloody things, its also so that you can see it for yourself. I've gotten rather tired of people telling me they don't exisit when they actually cause migraines and alter equations that someone else is using when working with background radiation and subspace muchless when you toss timespace inversion into the mix. *sigh* Sometimes I really do wonder how you can be so clever and so thick at the same time."

The Doctor just stared at his old friend and enemy. "You never told me that. If they're actually altering equation components and outcomes, a measurable reaction, or nearly so, that comepletely changes the situation."

The Master sighed and looked at the Doctor as if he were a moron. "I would have thought that you'd have figured that out on your own well before now. Apparently, I was mistaken. Remind me, how do you manage to stop me so often?"

"Well you do tend to go on about everything and you don't always take some of the {untranslatable} components into account." The Doctor admitted, for which Jack smacked him smartly over the head. 

"Ow!" The Doctor rubbed the back of his head and glared at Jack. "What was that for?"

"How about telling him how to be a better evil guy?" Jack told him caustically, to which the Doctor flushed, continuing to rub the back of his head and Martha just rolled her eyes.

The Master just watched this by-play with a smirk on his face. "If nothing else it was nice to hear Gallifreyan again even if it just was a single concept that couldn't be translated to english easily. Maybe I'll keep the tests to a minimum on the Freak and let more of your pets visit, on the condition that you don't try to organize any action against me." Then the Master's expression turned cold. "If I find that you or a group of your pets have decided to work against me then I wont stop at killing 10,000 for each of them involved it will be 10,000 each for all of the human pets I have ever known you to travel with for any length of time that will be the price. Have I made myself clear?"

"But you said!" Martha protested.

"More freedoms means a harsher punishment if you cross me, my dear." The Master informed her tersely. "I suggest you _don't_ cross me." 

"I'll even give you and his other pets access to more advanced technology which you can share or not as you choose. I had also planned to let you all check up on him in person as well but if the price is to high...." The Master offered in a much lighter tone, almost playfully. "Of course it also means that if one of you cross the line to far you _all_ loose access to him."

"Now, wait a minute." The Doctor protested, but stopped at the glare the Master sent his way. He knew that glare, it was one of the few that would stop him pushing where it came to anything that the Master was involved with.

"I am willing to allow your pets to make the inital contact with your previous companions and allow them to come and see that you are safe, but I have my limits. Don't push me Doctor, I am already conceeding far more than I had origianlly planned. I even had a special room with various types of restraints made up to contain you if need be. Do I need to use it?" The Master practically gritted out. The Doctor swallowed at his tone and shook his head no. The Master relaxed back into a normal posture and tone. "I didn't think so. My arrangement with you will be private except for possibly Hansome Jack here. This one is merely for your pets and the rest of the planet. I don't need it rising in rebellion under my feet for no good reason. Those who want a chance to return the planet to human rule or its previous state will have their say and their chance. I just plan on making it halfway amusing for them to try. Now, if there are no other protests I believe Miss. Jones has her family waiting on her." With that Martha gave her mobile's number to one of the security detail and kept looking back at the Doctor and Jack as she was escorted back to her family.

 

 **A/n:** Okay its clear to me that this is going to take an odd bent here and there, along with the possibility of something extremely strange happening to upset everything. Hope you like a crazy ride!


	3. Medical Assistance

**A/n:** Um, please don't hate me but I'm bringing up some of the Doc's survival guilt issues kinda early. Rating has gone up on this chapter due to mentions of not nice possibilities and other not nice stuff.

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_**Medical Assistance**_

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The Doctor and Jack soon found themselves alone with the Master in some sort of comfortable lounge. They watched, still wary, as the Master loosened his tie a bit and sat down in a grey leather covered over stuffed chair facing them and indicated that they should sit on the couch across from him. They were uncomfortably aware of the guards waiting just outside the door.

The Master sat back in his chair with his fingers forming a peak in front of him in a Mr. Burns like fashion as he looked at them in bemusement with an eye raised. "So, here we are. Tell me Doctor, why did you surrender so easily. You didn't even try to give the girl any sort of instructions before I sent her off."

The Doctor sighed and leaned back into the couch. "Do we have to do this now? I'm knackered." At the Master's pointed look he nodded wearily. "Alright. You've backed me into a bit of a corner, you've always been rather good at that, and I'm tired. So very tired. If it weren't for some of the humans I've traveled with I'd be dead. I've grown careless to the point that I almost let my last opponent, before you, take me down with him. The only thing that stopped it was the fact that I was responsible for Martha. I'd promised myself a long time ago that anyone traveling with me would get as much protection that I could provide while we traveled. I also never intended to survive the war but the Tardis made certain that I did survive. *shrug* I don't know what else to tell you except that I'm sorry, so very very sorry."

The Master's expression had grown dark. "You know perfectly well that _^Sorry^_ isn't good enough. It will never be good enough. Not for _**that**_!" The Master spat.

The Doctor looked down at his feet, nodding softly, and said quietly. "I know." Causing Jack to look back and forth between the two Time Lords in confusion.

"I'm clearly missing something important. Wanna enlighten me?" Jack asked in confusion.

The Doctor glanced up at the Master for permission and received a closed look of barely contained fury that showed clearly that he was not fully focused on Jack's question, but he had still given a slight tilt of the head forward in a nod, giving permission to speak about the war if the Doctor chose to. The Doctor cleared his throat, stalling and then explained. "The Time War, Jack. Why do you think that there is little evidence of Time Lords aside from myth and legend left across all of time and space?"

"I don't know." Jack admitted still confused. "I assumed that it had something to do with the Time War but I never really thought about it."

The Doctor sighed. "It has more to do with how and why the war was timelocked and by who. Jack, I ended the war. The Master had already left soon after he'd realized that we were loosing. Everything just kept getting worse and worse. Gods, you never want to see what was unleashed, the Skarro Degradations, the Nightmare Child. Then at the end, our entire race had gone mad! They had decided that the only way to end the war was to ascend into beings of pure thought as they ended time its self..." He told them both, remembering, looking and sounding as haunted as anyone who has had to order horrendous acts on the battlefield, or commit them. 

The Doctor had trailed off, just staring into space, remembering, causing Jack and the Master to exchange concerned looks. The Master leaned forward and snapped his fingers at the Doctor trying to bring him back to the present. The Doctor didn't react normally, he didn't come back to the present, he didn't see the other two men, he didn't even look in the direction of the sound. Instead he jerked in perfect time with each of the three snaps, almost as if he was having mini seizures each time he heard the sound. The Master swore as Jack grabbed him and tried to get him to lay down on the floor, holding his head. Jack quickly slipped off his own jacket, still holding the Doctor, to pile it under the Doctor's head as an emergency pillow so that he wouldn't crack his skull on the wood panel floor during the apparent seizure.

The Master had helped get the Doctor onto the floor and held his shoulders down, following Time Lord emergency medical procedure, making certain that there was as little extra jolting to the Doctor's hearts as was possible. Because of the fact that Time Lords were stronger than humans there was a real danger of the Doctor twisting or even snapping his own spine in his current state, as a result the Master had thrown one of his own legs in-between the Doctor's to help stabilize his spine as he thrashed and held him down bodily until he'd stopped thrashing. Cautiously, the two men released their holds on the now lightly breathing, inert, Time Lord, ready to grab him if he started to seize again.

The Doctor opened his eyes and blinked upward at the ceiling and the Master still leaning over him slightly. "Ah, um, hello. I appear to be on the floor. Why am I on the floor?" He asked.

Jack gave off a short breathless laugh of relief and the Master moved to sit on the floor beside the Doctor in relief, rather than half on top of him. "You started seizing, you bastard." He informed the Doctor with no real heat behind his words. "You're getting a full checkup, just as soon as I can get over the near hearts attack you gave me with that little stunt. Freak, it looks like I've found a better use for you than as a guinea pig, you just got drafted to help me keep him from getting himself killed."

"Hey, I'm moving up in the world Doc. First, I'm a guinea pig, now I'm a Time Lord babysitter. Not that he doesn't need one." Jack joked.

"Oi! I'm right here! And I do _not_ need a sitter!" The Doctor protested as he tried to sit up, but was gently pushed back down by both men.

"It would be easier keeping him in check if we brought in some of the others who've traveled with him to help." Jack told the Master tiredly. "Between us all we know most of his tricks to get out of any medical treatment for injuries or to let him do something stupid that could get him killed. I can honestly promise you that when it comes to the Doctor none of us are really willing to let him get hurt if we can help it. As for the ladies that traveled with him, I've seen proof that if they didn't fall in love with him they tried to mother him instead. The only problem with having us watch him is that he never let us know virtually anything about Time Lord biology, so that we wouldn't know when something was really wrong." He finished with a light glare at the prone Time Lord who had the presence of mind to stay quiet.

The Master snorted. "If he'd tried to teach you about our biology I'd be very worried. He practically failed Gallifreyan Biology and only passed Regeneration Basics by half a mark. He completely failed the Tardis flight classes and probably _still_ leaves the handbrake on all of the time if his Type 40 still wheezes and rattles while tossing everyone about. I'm still not sure why she puts up with him even if she had been decommissioned when he'd taken her. Though he always did get top marks on anything to do with humans or earth."

"Oi! I wasn't that bad." The Doctor protested still laying on the floor, Jack's coat under his head.

The Master looked at him. "Yes, you were, and what just happened certainly proves my point. If you'd done a proper mental spring cleaning and taken a good rest once in awhile rather than running off all over the place trying to save or protect your precious humans who could have certainly waited for a month or two then the Freak and I wouldn't have had to hold you down. The convulsions wouldn't have even happened."

The Doctor had no response to this except to look away from them. The Master waited a moment to see if he was going to say anything then continued. "You know perfectly well how strong Time Lord minds are and how interwoven the functions of our bodies are to how are minds work. If there's something wrong in the body we get a clear indication of where it is and what it is along with the ability to mentally control and direct the repair effort on a conscious level. By the same token if something goes wrong in our minds and we don't take care of it or at least come to terms with it a bad memory or a nightmare can quite literally kill us." 

By now Jack was very pale. He could remember the Doctor having increasingly frequent nightmares over the last couple of months and dreaded what might have happened if they hadn't found the Master, even if he had conquered the planet.

"He's been having nightmares for a couple of months and they've been getting worse." Jack practically whispered, causing the Master's gaze to jerk upward and look into his now deadly white face.

The Master started cursing in Gallifreyan as the Doctor closed his eyes in a pained fashion. "They aren't that bad." The Doctor protested weakly.

"^They aren't that bad^?! Then why did your Tardis put up barely a token protest about being made into a paradox machine and when I made the standard threats against you she gave me almost literally full access?!" The Master demanded, causing the Doctor to wince. "The only two things I don't have authorization for are the imprimatur chamber and the heart cavity."

The Doctor gave the barest sound of protest but was otherwise silent as the Master glared at him and Jack looked on in concern. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way." The Master told him angrily and pulled out his cell phone along with his copy of Martha's cell number and dialed it. 

"Miss. Jones? Yes, this is the Master or if you prefer Harold Saxon. An issue with the Doctor has arisen. I'll explain in a moment, but first has he been having nightmares?" The Master was quickly once again cursing in Gallifreyan. "Miss. Jones I need you to contact any and all of his previous traveling companions that you can and come back here with them. He's fallen ill and having all of you around might keep him from doing anything foolish. It will also make it easier to find the source of the nightmares. No. The nightmares are a real concern because of how powerful a Time Lord mind is. A nightmare or bad enough memory that hasn't been dealt with properly can and has killed Time Lords before. Thank You. Would you mind handing your phone to your security detail? Thank you again. Jason? Help Miss. Jones contact and pick up anyone she thinks can help and bring them back to the Valiant. Just do it. If that means commandeering a bloody bus and kidnapping the Queen then do it. I don't really care. Then take them with you. Good." 

The Master hung up and turned back to Jack tiredly. "She's coming and bringing anyone she thinks can help. I'll have to be the one to handle the telepathic end since I very much doubt that any of you have any telepathic abilities."

"I have some telepathic ability but not much. I was born in the 51st century and was a Time Agent for a couple of years until they stole 2 years worth of my memories from me. They gave me some basic training. Its not enough to qualify for a healer's license or anything but it works well enough to keep out anything unintentional and to let me know when someone's screwing with me." Jack offered.

"Well that's something at least." The Master admitted. "And here I thought I'd have trouble keeping you lot out of trouble and inconvenient places not keeping you in one piece."

"And if its something as simple as say some rithcal pollen that got trapped in my respiratory by-pass?" The Doctor asked in annoyance having crossed his arms petulantly while staying flat on the floor where they had placed him during his seizure.

"Have you dealt with the memories of the war? Of how many battles you've been in? Of being both the foot soldier and the General? Have you dealt with the atrocities that you were forced to see and search for traps and dead children?" The Master demanded. "I may not have been assigned to the same front as you were but your accomplishments in battle made their way throughout the fleet. It even got to the point where some of the others who were assigned to me as guards started to slip me information on you directly as if some idiot was planning on applying that antiquated _^marry thine enemy and have peace^_ law."

"Oh, well that makes more sense why someone was always updating me on your status as well." The Doctor said faintly.

Jack looked at the two Time Lords and how they were avoiding eye contact and smiled as he asked in amusement. "The two of you didn't happen to actually ask after the other at some point?" His question was met with silence. "That's what I thought. Is it safe to move him?"

"Yes. It was probably safe after the first 30 seconds or so but I didn't want to chance it with how often he tosses himself into or through some situation or other that could kill him." The Master explained, then he turned right around and asked the Doctor. "Tattoo, brand, or collar?"

"Wha.? What in the world are you talking about?" The Doctor asked startled into going still half way into sitting up.

"Did you really think you were going to get away with out something marking you as mine after what happened on the bridge?" The Master asked condescendingly. "This planet doesn't have much else that will let me claim you openly and I didn't think you'd appreciate marrying me after the fuss you've put up over the centuries over humans in general and your traveling companions in particular. So, tattoo, brand, or collar?"

The Doctor blushed bright red and finished getting up. "Um, can I have some time to decide?" He asked as he handed Jack's coat back to him.

"Yes, but you'll be wearing a control bracelet regardless so that goes on now." The Master informed him as he moved to the small wet bar and pulled out a small metal bracelet from underneath it. He held it out to the Doctor who silently took it and put it on his right wrist, which the Master noted with some surprise. "Your right wrist? You're right hand dominant and you don't know what it does. I expected you to put it on your left, given the choice."

The Doctor shrugged. "Didn't really think about it." He admitted.

The Master stared at his oldest friend and enemy. Yes, as many problems as having the Doctor's companions around were going to cause he risked loosing the Doctor to a suicide attempt before he could try and put him back together without them around to help stabilize him. This was going to be a bit more tricky than he had planned for. He hadn't realized that the Doctor had allowed the issues of humanity and his human companions to affect him so deeply that he got _this_ bad. The Doctor and his companions would have to be inside the eye of the temporal storm when the paradox broke or putting him back together would all be for nothing and he would loose the Doctor all over again, but this time it might be permanent...

 

**A/n:** Again good? Bad? Reviews are helpful!!! I also cannot promise a pairing of any type but it seems to be leaning toward something a little more congenial between the Doctor and the Master. I have NO control over musey!


	4. Instincts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the violence comes in....

**A/n:** Okay, its looking like musey and murphy really don't want this to stay at the teenage levels (or even on a relatively straight path). Enjoy!

* * *

_**Instincts** _

By the time that a section of UNIT, and Martha had shown up to be transported up to the Valiant the Toclofane had gathered the world's leaders and their advisers, dropping them off in one of the holding lounges with a few Toclofane to keep them under control and from doing something foolish. Several hours had passed and everyone was on edge. In that amount of time the Master had given the Doctor a through physical along with a chewing out over his current tattered state of health as well as locking both the Doctor and Jack into his personal quarters until Martha returned. He'd also met with the world leaders and made it perfectly clear what the consequences would be if they chose to fight back. There were also several policy changes that he spelled out which were to go into effect immediately on pain of mass slaughter of the populance for those rulers who cared about their people and pain of extended torture for those who didn't. The Toclofane were bobbing gleefully behind him as he outlined the changes and consequences, enjoying the show.

UNIT, on the other hand, was aware of most of the Doctor's previous traveling companions and even had their contact information on file incase of an emergency and they couldn't get in touch with the Doctor. UNIT wasn't willing to give up the information without first confirming the Doctor's condition and the entire situation, not to mention the fact that they wanted to be the ones to provide security to not only protect the Doctor but to ensure that the Master kept to his promises. After all they still had files on the Master and his previous run-ins with the Doctor. UNIT knew perfectly well that they wouldn't be able to beat him, it would take the Doctor's aid to even try anything halfway successful and even that wasn't guaranteed. Only the Doctor had ever been shown to be able to match the Master, just as only the Master had really ever matched the Doctor. No one at UNIT wanted to contemplate what would happen if the Doctor either wasn't rescued or wouldn't help against the Master. No one wanted to think about what could have hurt him badly enough that the Master was willing to let them help take care of the Doctor either.

Then there was Torchwood. Torchwood, especially Torchwood 3, wasn't particularly happy about Jack deciding to stay with the Doctor on live TV, nor were they happy about the potential tests that Jack was likely going to under go. But their demands to speak with him or at least retrieve his body, assuming he was dead, were met with silent glares and blocked doorways. It apparantly didn't matter that their mandate was to secure the country against the Doctor and threats like him, nor did it matter that they supposedly had the best containment facilities to deal with the Doctor. All that Torchwood ever saw was the angry glares of the guards who, they clearly saw, peacefully provided access to their rival faction UNIT before they were bodily removed from the area with dire warnings and threats echoing in their ears.

"What did you do to him?" Martha demanded as soon as she saw the Master waiting for her and the UNIT personnel who were standing behind her.

UNIT had contacted her on the orders of Brigadier LethBridge-Stewart, retired, to offer their assistance and what little knowledge they had on the Doctor on the condition that they be allowed to provide security for the Doctor and any companions past, present, and even future who might come under the Master's care for any reason. The Brigadier might have been in a retirement home but he was still of sound mind, if no longer of completely sound body and had spent more than a little time with more than one regeneration of the Doctor over the years. He knew that the Doctor would need help on this one and if he couldn't go and provide it himself then by god he'd organize it from the ground and make sure that the Doctor had what he needed when he needed it, even if he had to drag himself and a 200lbs. bag of random electronics and junk across a parking lot of shattered glass in nothing but his shorts.

The Master just sighed. "I didn't do anything to him, not this time any way. The idiot went and sent himself into convulsions because he hasn't been keeping up on his basic medical whenever he runs into something mentally scarring or nasty. It took both me and the Freak to keep him from snapping his own bloody spine during the convulsions. Even that old wreck of a ship is worried about him, she must have known that I'd pick up on it eventually when he didn't fight back enough and neither did she. If Gallifrey was still around I'd have immediately left and dragged him to a certified healer, whether he wanted to go or not." He snorted. "He's made a right mess out of himself and regenerating wont fix it, he's already tried that, the idiot. We don't have all day. You'll all be in the same area as the Doctor and if I find any of you trying to hurt or kill him I'll rip you apart. He actually admitted that the only reason he didn't die during that last trip of yours is that he felt responsible for you Miss. Jones. I left the Freak on suicide watch after I explained to him a few ways that we can chose to die that a human can't use, at least not voluntarily. I'm hoping that precaution is just overkill but he put the restraining bracelet on his dominant hand. He _never_ does that given a choice and fights back viciously whenever someone tries to force the issue." 

The Master turn away from their shocked expressions and led them to the same area as his own quarters where he'd left Jack and the Doctor. Thankfully his "wife" was out on a shopping trip and likely picking out who in her security detail she'd ask him if she could keep as something a little bit more. The Master had made it perfectly clear to her what the situation would be during their marriage, especially should his plans succeed. She didn't mind as long as he was willing to give her an open marriage and a divorce when he left the planet in-tact, letting her pick and choose anyone else to play with in the mean time. As the Master led them to where he'd left Jack and the Doctor he decided that it might be a good idea if his "wife" occupied her chosen quarters on the other side of the ship a little earlier than expected and gave the orders to inform her about the change in plans and move her things. He wasn't willing to loose the Doctor over something so small as her wandering into his quarters for a clean shirt or dress.

"Let me see the medical file you've compiled on the Doctor." The Master ordered the UNIT medic who unthinkingly handed it over. "Hmm, yes, I found evidence of that... I wondered how that DNA managed to get into the regeneration matrix... He did that?! Fool! ... Oh, you can't be serious... What the hell was he thinking? In light of what the idiot had previously done I suppose that made sense... So that's why he had the casting plaster on him... Why on earth would he have had Ulxal urine in a sippy cup much less the crystalized tears of a Nabarin in a pill box?...oh. *sigh* Some days his pitiful marks in the medical and biology classes really do show... He WHAT?! Damn him! I'm surprised he has any regenerations left much less that he's still alive." The Master kept muttering under his breath as they traveled and he reviewed the Doctor's medical charts and information that UNIT had had on file. Eventually they came to the Master's private quarters and he paused in his review to unseal the door and let everyone in.

"Have you any idea how utterly stupid and dangerous even half of these actions were?" The Master demanded angrily as the Doctor blerily peered up from the bed, still in his clothes but under the covers, and Jack glanced up from his light reading in an arm chair next to the bed. The Master practically threw the file into the Doctor's chest as he finished waking up enough to notice that it wasn't just the Master who was visiting them but Martha and a good number of UNIT soldiers as well.

The Doctor managed to catch the file without loosing its contents and glanced through it. "Oh, my UNIT medical file. I didn't know they wrote that one down. I remember that one." The Doctor mused as he started to go over the file himself. The Doctor winced as he came across a particularly dangerous and stupid action that had managed to work out for everyone, just. Then he looked up at the Master with solemn eyes. "Yes, I know that a good deal of these were daft to even consider much less try but they worked and I've found better ways of doing it now that I'm older and hopefully wiser."

"You clearly need someone to watch you who knows something about Gallifreyan biology and knows you personally. Of all the stupid..." He fumed but still managed to motion Martha and the UNIT personnel forward for their own examination of the Doctor as he stood back. The Master leaned back against the wall near the entry way to the room and watched them carefully. Half hoping that one of them would make a move against him or the Doctor, mainly him, so that he had an excuse to kill them or lock them up and find out who was going to be a problem inside UNIT.

One of the young soldiers stood before the Doctor and saluted. "Sir, on behalf of the Brigadier we're here to make sure that you're alright and if possible provide you with independent security." The young man's eyes had flickered in the direction of the Master when he had said "independent security" as the UNIT medic tried to examine the Doctor who was pointedly ignoring him, much to the amusement of Jack and the bemusement of the Master, while Martha was just as exasperated as the medic.

Finally Martha snapped at him. "Do you mind?" She demanded. "We're trying to make sure that you've not injured something or done something else daft. Like that time you just got up and started running about when that witch stopped one of your hearts and the Queen ordered your death after we'd visited Shakespear."

"What?!" Jack and the Master voiced their protest almost at the same time that the medic gave her a startled glance and the Doctor gave her one of disappointmet.

"Now, Martha..." The Doctor soothed.

"No! You'll let us examine you proper especially since I know perfectly well that that second heart of yours still bothers you sometimes." Martha accused as the Doctor wouldn't meet her eyes. "Don't think I haven't noticed you rubbing your chest from time to time or those little trips to the infirmary to see that we have all of the supplies we need that take far to long for a quick glance at what's on the shelf."

"Doctor." The Master practically growled in warning, gaining a startled glance from the Doctor as he approached. "You wouldn't happen to have _forgotten_ anything else, now would you?"

"Ah, um, maybe?" The Doctor offered tentatively. The Master's growl just grew louder alarming the Doctor further and in a flash of panic he realized that there were to many humans between him and the other Time Lord. If he'd accidentally triggered the protective instincts then the Master might very well rip them apart to get to him. 

"Get back!" The Doctor practically shouted. "Don't get between us and don't interfere!"

"Doctor, what?" Martha asked in confusion looking back and forth between the two Time Lords as she was shoved to the side by one of the UNIT personnel with a short "MOVE!" as the UNIT members obeyed.

Jack didn't obey, instead he got in the way, putting himself bodily between the Doctor and the Master. The Doctor's panic had kick started the Master's instincts beyond what he could control and he'd only barely managed to stop himself leaping toward the other Time Lord as both Martha and the UNIT members got out of the way. He could do nothing about Jack standing defiantly between him and the Doctor or his reaction to such an act in regards to _his_ doctor. The Master lept landing on Jack, fist already flying resulting in a *crack* of knuckle bone against jaw bone, knocking the immortal out cold. The Master looked up into the fearful eyes of the Doctor who was tangled in the bed sheets. The Master's own scent surrounding the Doctor calmed his instincts to slam the other Time Lord into the wall behind him and then turn to face the threat of the others in the room. He lept onto the bed and pinned him in place biting him where his neck and shoulder joined causing the Doctor to cry out and the UNIT personnel to restrain Martha from trying to pull the Master off of the Doctor. 

The Master held the bite long enough to make sure there would be a good mark there then let go and turned to face the humans in the room. The scents that were assailing him told him that Martha and Jack both truely cared about the Doctor but only one of them had tried to defend the other Time Lord when the Master's instincts had kicked in. Jack might be _wrong_ but he also was close to being a Time Lord. If the mark took then as far as the Master's instincts were concerned Jack was a Time Lord with some human mixed in. He lept for Jack again and felt the Doctor just barely miss catching him. As he landed next to the accidentally immortal human he growled at his new second who immediately stopped trying to get out of bed and lay still. After confirming that the Doctor would stay put he bit Jack in the same spot, the joining of the neck and shoulder and held the bite for an extra second to make sure that it had a good chance of taking. When he let go he noted with satisfaction that the mark had taken. There was the normal wound but the slightest sheen of something else was there as well and would become part of the skin in that area. He noticed that Martha was trying to inch her way toward the Doctor, so he growled at her in warning.

"Martha, stop. You need to stop moving toward me. It isn't safe for anyone but me or Jack to be near him right now." The Doctor told them softly. "I'm honestly surprised that he marked Jack, that he even could. This is my fault, its a throw back to when Time Lords were only Gallifreyans. We would gather in packs or prides, it depends on what species you'd mostly associate with us but instead of the way that earth animals claim and integrate others into the pack. The alpha or leader of the pack, which isn't always the same thing for us, would mark the newcomer. When the mark faded, IF the mark faded either the pack member would submit for a new mark or leave the pack. As we evolved marks were no longer just a bite to the neck and sometimes more... permanent methods were used. If however one of us claimed another but didn't mark them and the one that was claimed but unmarked was injured or threatened to the point that the claimer felt pushed or threatened themselves or on behalf of the one they claimed... Lets just say that its a good thing that the Master was always very good at controling himself or the rest of you would be dead in a very bloody and messy fashion. He managed to stop himself from marking me, refusing the rest of you the chance to mark me, until you got out of the way. Jack got in the way and he's from not only the right time but has the right experience from his past as a time agent that the Master must have decided to try and include him in the pack as if he was another Time Lord. I don't know how he would know that though, especially since not all of his reasoning is conscious at the moment. I honestly don't know why he didn't tear Jack apart."

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Asked one of the UNIT members with a red stripe on his shoulder equally softly, who was eyeing the Master who had turned to face them and was eyeing them as if he hadn't quite decided if they were a threat yet or not.

"First, don't call me sir. Second, stop moving toward me." This softly spoken command froze the UNIT personnel in place and stopped Martha from continuing to inch toward him. "Right, now, I need you to kneel on the floor and keep your eyes focused on the floor. Don't meet his eyes, he'll see it as a challenge and rip you apart. Let him circle you, keep quiet, and if he gets to close get closer to the floor, show him your back or belly. He'll see it as a sign of submission to his authority." The remaining humans obeyed the softly spoken instructions as the Master got up from his crouch and prowled toward them. One of the UNIT officers wasn't fast enough with his show of submission and found his neck broken as his body was tossed across the room to thud against the wall but earning a soft "Well, that's good. He's coming back to himself." from the Doctor.

"How is that good?" Another UNIT soldier hissed at the Doctor drawing the Master's gaze in time for him to see Martha cuff the soldier over the head for the comment and for not obeying the Doctor's instructions.

"Its good because he died quick and clean, if the Master was still in full protective mode then he would have literally been torn apart, shreded flesh and blood everywhere." The Doctor hissed back. "Now, keep quiet like I told you."

The Master paused when he came to Martha and got closer to her as she obeyed the Doctor's instructions, getting closer to the floor. The Master recognized the Doctor's scent surrounding Martha. The Master could tell that she was young enough to still be a child if she were Gallifreyan. He nudged her toward Jack and the Doctor, away from the other humans.

"Doctor?" Martha asked fearfully as she put up a light resistance, practically nothing at all as far as Time Lords were concerned.

"Its alright Martha, he probably just smells me on you. Your age can show up in your scent sometimes and with my Time Lord scent all over you since you've been traveling with me on top of that, he likely thinks that you're my child, which means that you're part of the pack to but to young to mark. Come over to me, slowly, and keep your eyes down. _Don't_ stand up all of the way or he'll see it as an act of defiance when you've already acknowledged him as dominant." The Doctor directed as Martha moved over to him and the Master prowled between the UNIT members and his new pack.

Slowly, ever so slowly the Master came out of his instincts and back into full control of himself. He straightened up and looked at the two groups that he had established glancing at the Doctor quizically. His gaze sharpened when he saw the mark that he'd left on the Doctor's neck juncture. Martha was wrapped up in the Doctor's arms almost like a child as the Doctor looked him straight in the eye. He took another look at everyone's possitions and sighed.

"I take it I was unable to keep my more possessive instincts in check?" The Master asked wryly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." The Doctor said causually earning a punch to the chest from Martha who was still in his arms, on top of the covers.

"Really? It rather looks like I not only lost control but marked both you and the Freak." The Master retorted wryly.

"Well its better than being the one considered the child of a good friend." Martha shot back at the Master. "Just because I swiped his coat to keep off the extra damp on that weird green rock planet I get counted as a child." She muttered, earning a risen eyebrow and a look of interest for her comment. The Doctor just shrugged and rolled his eyes. Both he and the Master knew that the underlying trigger scent took far longer to start to cling to someone than just wearing someone's coat for a couple of hours.

"Can we get up now?" One of the bolder UNIT men asked tentitively.

"Yes, I'm back to normal." The Master waved away their concerns. "I've managed to keep that instinct under control for nearly 8 centuries, I wonder why it slipped now?" He mused as they got up from the floor, then shook his head and turned to deal with the remaining UNIT members. "Regardless of anything else you've just proven that you not only have some small amount of sense but also enough loyalty to the Doctor that I'm granting UNIT's request to run the Doctor's security, on one condition, only the men in this room are allowed near him on a regular basis. You've all just passed a very rigorous and dangerous test that I had never intended to initiate, as far as I'm concerned you are now this pack's personal security." The Master warned. "However, if I find that you pose a danger to us you wont like my response to the threat, intentional or otherwise."

"Yes, sir. We understand. Our priority is the Doctor, most of us voluteered for this post and the Brigadier cleared all of us. He turned away a good twenty who he said would just get themselves or the Doctor killed." The UNIT Commander answered as he stood straight and tall in front of the Master. "He also sends his regards to you and asks that you not wipe out the human race."

The Master grunted. "Its good to see that he still remembers me; I remember him as well. How many do you think he'd accept for his bodyguards?"

"Sir?" The young commander asked hesistantly.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. The Brigadier knew the Doctor, more for his time with UNIT but he did go on a trip or two with him. I was quite serious about providing bodyguards to the Doctor's companions and I'm not entirely certain that leaving the Brigadier ungarded is wise. Someone might remember him from when the Doctor was UNIT's scientific advisor." The Master explained. "At least I don't have to bother with plainclothesmen."

"No." The Doctor said sternly.

"Yes, or do you want me to assign some Toclofane to guard him? They don't always know when to stop or care when they've made a mistake." The Master threatened.

The Doctor's shoulders slumped. "So unless they accept the human bodyguards you assign you'll give them Toclofane as bodyguards? They're no better than children who don't understand what they are doing or why."

"Your point?" The Master asked pointedly.

The Doctor sighed. "Two should be enough, maybe three if both you and he are going to be stubborn about it." He admitted as Jack groaned coming around.

"Ow. My head." Jack sat up rubbing his jaw. "You pack quite a wallop." Jack paused realizing that he was injured and alive. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"Who says I didn't?" The Master asked mildly.

"My headache." Jack admitted with a grimace. "I heal completely after I die and come back."

"Then you shouldn't have gotten in the way." He told Jack pointedly.

"At least you didn't get sniffed and then shoved toward the Doctor as if you were his very young daughter." Martha retorted.

"Martha, its a simple bit of logic mixed with a little math and instinct." The Doctor started patiently.

"No. I'm not a child." She told him indignantly.

"So you'd rather that I had bitten you and then that the three of us had fucked you?" The Master asked mildly.

"What do you mean?" She asked almost hesitantly.

"That's what would have happened if all three of us were Time Lords and couldn't control our instincts while forming a new pack." The Master offered. "The fact that I thought you were the Doctor's adopted child while I was in such a state says much. Its rare that anyone is adopted into our people so throughly that our instincts acknowledge the claim. Even mate claims aren't always acknowledged in such a fashion by anyone but the Time Lord who mated the outsider."

The Doctor nodded in confirmation, adding. "The partial adoptions that these UNIT fellows were accepted under are far more common and more for the security of the pack than anything else."

"Oh." Martha said quietly, and thought about the explanation she'd been given.

"Soooo, does that mean we're married?" Jack asked with a lavacious wink at the Doctor who gave him an eye roll for his trouble.

"Not necessarily, Jack. Right now there is only the pack claim mark for it to be a mating at least one of us needs to establish a telepathic mating bond and no, you can't be one of the initiators if its with me or the Master. Well actually that's not quite right, you can initiate it you just can't complete it and it could kill everyone involved if its rejected." The Doctor explained. "Esentially, we're considered to be a type of family at the moment and Martha is the child of our pack. That means we would raise her jointly."

"Oi!" Martha protested from her position siting on the bed next to the Doctor who was still half under the covers.

"Until you've taken a mate of your own that we approve of or become one of our mates that's how our instincts will force us to see you." The Master told her bluntly. "If you try to take a mate that we feel is a threat to you or us then we're likely to kill him. Which is why, from now on, we get to screen your dates."

"But!" Martha started.

"Its not up for debate." The Master cut her off, adding a glare for good measure.

"Is there anything else we need to be aware of, sir?" The UNIT commander asked. "Am I allowed to convey this information to the Brigadier?"

"It would make things simpler." The Doctor grumbled earning a look from the Master.

"Very well, on the condition that he accept the placement of at least three bodyguards for him and his family. If he wishes to continue organizing aid and other supplies on the Doctor's behalf he has permission to do so, on the condition that no action or promise of action is to be taken against me or mine." The Master ordered, but added. "Promising to assasinate my wife does _not_ fall under these restrictions."

The Doctor looked at the Master keenly and asked almost softly. "I thought..."

"No, I didn't bond with her. She's a convience and she knows it. What we have isn't a marriage its a business deal." The Master said with a shake of his head. He sighed and turned back the UNIT personnel. "The Doctor will be sleeping in here for the time being. Two men minimum on 8 hour rotating shifts on the outside of the door to the suite. The remaining two will report back to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and run general errands for the time being. I want you all aware of the situations, problems, and possible dangers. If you find that you need a skill but don't have it yourself, find someone who does to take care of it for now and get them to give you a crash course in the subject. If one of you can find a cot or two for now that would be nice, as I've given the bed to the Doctor and both Martha and the Freak can't sleep on the couch since I'll be sleeping there." This earned him a look from the three timetravelers and barely a blink from the UNIT soldiers.

"If we can't find one then we'll see what we can do about getting you a bedroll and some blankets, sir." He hesitated before continuing. "Thank you, for letting us check on him and for not killing us. We all knew there was a good chance we might not come back but he needed to know that we were trying and that he matters."

The Doctor stared at the young man who had offered such heartfelt feelings on behalf of those he had once lived among and trained during his exile and subsequent stranding on earth in an earlier regeneration. This was the second time in as many hours that he had been told that he was worth the loyalty, resources, and worry it took to get him back and keep him safe. The Doctor didn't think that he was worth it, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out how so many came to believe that he not only was worth it but trusted that he would do his best to put things to rights, if he could. The Master nodded and dismissed them to their new duties.


	5. A World Apart

_**A World Apart** _

They came. They came in ones and twos, threes and fours. They came in groups big and small. How the word got out and was spread across the world they wouldn't know until later and never for certain. The ark-angel network was humming with life and thought. The toclofane followed the many groups of people like curious little children but obeyed the new "Do not kill or harm unless attacked first" rule they had been given. What they found at the end of their game of 'sneak behind the humans' was a great big gathering of people in a big large open space in each major city across the globe. It was always a little toclofane who boldly got the attention of a small child and asked what was going on, and in every single city the answer was fearlessly the same, from one child to another. We're playing a game! The grown-ups want to call the Doctor-man and we get to help! No one could tell anyone else where the instructions for how to call the Doctor-man had come from; they only knew that they had only recently been told what he had done for them for so long and now they wanted to do something for him.

They started with what they had been told to start with, something that many of them wished that they had thought of. They honored the dead for the first half hour with songs of mourning and of celebration for lives lived. The planet mourned as one through the few individuals who had the courage to come to the square, or field, or courtyard, or other big open space which was used. The planet mourned its dead of all sides as a whole and as one for once. Then came the single trumpet blast at each location in perfect sync with all other locations. That is when the human race began to call for its Doctor-man. That is when the ark-angel network began to **_blaze_** , enhancing the natural low level telepathy and empathy of the human race bringing the natural human energy network to a blazing visible life!

Every single human and toclofane blazed with human life force. The Master had been about to leave their rooms to see what was going on when the human network blazed to stunning life, making Martha look like a living flame. Jack looked like a flaming brand or a fiery torch competing with his own twisted knot of artron energy that kept it anchored, but the Doctor... Oh, the Doctor didn't shine or blaze. He didn't need to. He glittered...

"So its true, you really are part human." The Master commented as he studied the phenomena.

"So are you it seems, just a bit farther back then me. Grandmother?" The Doctor noted seeing the barest glimpses of glitter in the Master's form practically obscured by his Time Lord artron energy and the suit he was wearing as he sat up in bed still in his now rather rumpled suit.

"Great-grandfather." The Master corrected absent-mindedly as he straightened his cufflinks. "Your mother then?"

"Yeah." The Doctor pondered for a moment watching the Master get ready to go and see what was going on. "Can I come and see then?"

The Master looked at him and sighed. "Might as well." He turned and walked out leaving the Doctor to follow him onto the bridge. Thankfully the two UNIT members currently on duty had decided that until the glow proved anything more than inconvenient they were going to ignore it and followed the two Time Lords onto the bridge.

Which is where Henry was waiting for them and stoically ignoring his own personal blaze ready to do his best to help Mr. Saxon with whatever needed doing. "As far as we can tell groups across the globe started gathering in the night almost simultaneously. Around nine this morning, our time, they all began their various mourning rituals, each unique to whatever region they were in. Until approximately a half hour later a trumpet sounded simultaneously at each site and they all began calling for the Doctor in one form or another." Henry recited.

The Master shot a look at the Doctor who just shook his head and said, smiling like a loon. "Don't look at me. I didn't do it. I'm not even certain how they did it. But isn't it brilliant?" To which the Master just rolled his eyes and went over the sensor readings on the pad display that Henry had handed him.

The Master scanned through the sensor readings and realized that the ark-angel communication network had acted as a psychic amplifier. The gathered humans had poured so much emotional and personal energy into the network that it forced a visible chain reaction in the naturally low level human energy network which connects all humans together. The Master growled in frustration, then sighed asking. "Do we have access to a live link up for a live news broadcast or something similar at the moment? Or did some idiot mess with the wires and monitors again?"

"Everything is in order and ready for a live transmission should you wish to issue one, sir. I also took the liberty of making certain that we could highjack any channels that were choosing to be uncooperative." Henry replied promptly.

"Good. They want to see the Doctor, so we'll let them see the Doctor. You can read them a bedtime story or something." The Master told the now beaming Doctor in exasperation. "But first I think we'll go with the collar for now." The Master continued muttering to himself as he went and searched his desk for the temporary collar he had been planning to use if the Doctor had been to difficult.

"You've already marked me I don't see any reason why I should have a tattoo, brand, or a collar." The Doctor complained but didn't try to stop the Master from searching his desk for it.

The Master looked up and glared at him pausing in his search. "A collar is an acceptable mark in most of their cultures, as are brands and tattoos. Be glad I'm not insisting on all three." This caused the Doctor to start spluttering in indignation as the Master went back to his search and the glitter adorning both of them began to glow brighter. 

With a grunt and a shove the Master gave up his search. "Fine. We'll sort out the mess later. Henry, turn it on. The Doctor is going to read them a bedtime story." Hearing this Henry quickly switched on the live broadcast system and the chants quickly died down as those gathered around television sets saw that both Time Lords wore the glittering energy that blazed within them as full blooded humans.

The Doctor beamed at the camera's and waved as the Master sulked a little and leaned against the wall behind him. The Doctor was practically bouncing in place. "Hello! I'm the Doctor and I think you shouldn't do that very often. Bringing that much energy up to visible levels could hurt you. You're only human after all." The Doctor scolded gently with a fond smile. "Now then the Master who you all know better as Harold Saxon has agreed to let me read you a bedtime story since we were discussing things and haven't managed time for a kip just yet." This announcement brought a cheer from around the world and both Jack and Martha staggering slightly as they came over to the Doctor.

The Doctor frowned in concern. "What happened?"

"Whatever was making us glow did something else. We were to close to the man focus, whatever that was." Jack practically gasped out as he and Martha slumped into nearby chairs.

"Oh no. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry. Someone thought to use the ark-angel network and have people focus on me. They didn't take into account the natural low level telepathic and empathic fields that are a part of any and every human. That's how you get human serial killers, their connection to the human main energy network is damaged. Its even more broken for human psychopaths and sociopaths." The Doctor's distress was plain for all to see.

"I'm more worried about Martha. After Rose accidentally made me immortal, well, you know. But Martha doesn't have that advantage, she's a normal human." Jack pointed out. "I even had some extra's before that mess with Rose and the Daleks on satalite 5 since I'm from the 51st century. Martha's from _this_ century. She's a native."

"There isn't much to be done freak. Not unless she's willing to try and become a Time Lord. *snort* She'd have a better chance surviving as is. She might become crippled and overly sensitive to natural and unnatural energy spikes but she'd still have a better chance of survival if we didn't do anything." The Master pointed out as the world watched with baited breath as their actions showed with a terrible clarity they had very real consequences, even more so when the planet worked as one.

The Master watched the Doctor carefully and immediately saw when he got that particular look in his eye. "No. Not this time. I recognize that look and I'm not giving you the chance to try anything. Have you forgotten that you were seizing less than 12 hours ago?!" The Master demanded. "Try it and I'll do more than lock you up and throw away the key this time!"

"Do what?" The Doctor asked innocently.

"You know perfectly well what. You've sacrificed everything and then some for these apes! We are the last you and I. You think I don't want to save her? I bloody well accepted your adoption claim! You know perfectly well what that means." The Master accused. "The only way we might be able to manage it with even a half way decent chance is if they started up again, this time focusing on Martha transforming into a Time Lord. The psychic wave from all of this would be hitting us tremendously hard as it is if we weren't part human ourselves and if that information ever made it back to Gallifrey not only would we be put on the assassination lists, again. So would our entire lines and houses!"

"There is precedent." The Doctor told him quietly. "It isn't often spoken of and its incredibly hard to find in the archives but its there."

"Who? When? Why?" The Master demanded.

"Rassilon, his wife, and do we really care? Its not in the right shelving slot any way." The Doctor answered. "I've a copy on the Tardis. I'll show you later."

"Side effects?" The Master asked having turned back to look at Martha, who was now shivering, consideringly.

"Unlimited regenerations for you and me. For Martha? She'll have trouble not attacking and ripping apart anyone or anything that she deems a threat during this first regeneration. She'll stay Martha this time around but she'll be regenerating into herself from human into a Time Lord. She knows how much it will hurt. She saw me go back and forth once when I was trying to be nice and eventually had to finish what they had started." The Doctor sighed, earning a raised eyebrow from the Master.

"Anything else?" The Master asked knowing that the Doctor had likely left something important out for one reason or another.

"... We can only ever do it the once. It will forge a much stronger than usual bond between the four of us since we'll be using Jack as a secondary stabilizing force." The Doctor admitted. "If we ever decide to trigger the mating bond, we're all stuck with each other for eternity. Martha will be a normal Time Lord with a regular set of regenerations but Jack's situation will get tweaked a bit. He wont be able to stay dead until both of us are dead dead. That's if any of the three of us choose a mating bond with one or both of the other two. Martha will just be a normal Time Lord, well, sort of."

The planet waited with baited breath, would they be attempting to fix their blunder and witness something wonderful or would this Martha forever bear the result of their misunderstanding and mistake?

"Provided she is willing to try I don't see any reason not to." The Master agreed reluctantly. Martha grunted her agreement and the Master waved the Doctor over to him. "We need to take that bracelet off. I don't want it fried. But it goes back on as soon as we're finished, have I made myself clear?" He admonished to a bouncing Doctor that nodded vigorously never taking his eyes off of Martha. The Master just shook his head and removed the bracelet letting the Doctor rush over to Martha's side.

"Martha, Martha, you need to stay awake just a bit longer. Jack, help me mover her to that couch." The Master trailed after the Doctor and Jack as they carried Martha to the upper deck and laid her onto one of the leather couches. Henry had dutifully kept the camera's focused on them the entire time and now set them to automatic so that he could retreat to a safer location. As the men took positions around Martha, the world waited for its instructions, ready to help.

"Now we just need the humans to focus on the transformation and to stop when we tell them." The Master commented dryly. "Do you think that they can obey something so simple?"

"You'd be surprised at what they can do." The Doctor told him mysteriously causing the Master's eyes to narrow.

"What side effect haven't you mentioned?" He demanded.

"Doing this will reintegrated us with normal time. Dissolving the paradox, repairing the Tardis, sort of, and finish saving Martha. Everyone will keep their memories along side of the memories of the normal events that happened if the paradox hadn't occurred and the toclofane will be sent home." The Doctor told him softly.

The Master grunted. "Well that explains how Rassilon managed to make it so that we still have our history as Gallifreyans but that we have also always been Time Lords. *sigh* Fine. We'll call this a win for you, again, and leave in the Tardis. Together."

The Doctor nodded his thanks, then nodded at Jack to start directing the power flow from the planet below.

"Alright!" Jack called out. "Lets get this show on the road! Start thinking of Martha turning into a Time Lady. I'll tell you when to stop. If you hear the Doc shouting then you really need to stop." Jack explained. "All you people have to do is wish, hope, dream, of Martha being a Time Lady until we tell you to stop. Now start!"

With those words the earth and all of its people started to think, wish, hope, and dream of Martha coming out of this as a Time Lady. This lasted for nearly an hour with energy flares acting almost like a visible heartbeat throughout the human network going off every 2-5 minutes. Then Jack called a halt. Martha had risen into the air in a glowing cocoon of light and as the light fell away certain differences were clear. Her muscle mass was more defined and toned. She was slimmer and had a slightly paler complexion. As she floated toward the floor on the remaining ribbons of power from her cocoon both the Doctor and the Master clearly exhausted caught her and gingerly lowered her to the couch once more.

The Doctor turned to the cameras and said sincerely. "Thank you. You were all brilliant! I'll have to read you all as story another night. I'm knackered. *yawn* G'dnight!" With that Henry switched off the cameras causing the screens which had held the unforgettable drama to go dark, and a moment later a cheer was heard across the globe. They had done something that no one else ever had, and they had done it together with one of their greatest protectors at their side.

THE END!  
for now...

**A/n:** I'm likely going to continue this so if you wanted it to go further don't despair! 


End file.
